St. Joe's Bembry could get picked up in draft

St. Bonaventure’s Matthew Wright, left, looks for a shot past Saint Joseph’s DeAndre Bembry during the first half of an Atlantic 10 Tournament semifinal game last weekend. An NBA scout said Bembry could contribute on a pro team. (Associated Press)

Bembry (6-6) has the length, the defensive skills and the upside to be a productive NBA player at guard according to the scout, who had a prosperous pro career and prefers to remain anonymous.

The assessment of Bembry came before he played all 45 minutes and scored 16 points in an 89-81 overtime loss to favored Connecticut in the second round of the East Region at First Niagara Center.

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Bembry held Shabazz Napier to just five points at the half, the veteran Huskies point guard scoring 19 of his 24 points in the second half.

Napier, who played 42 minutes against the Hawks, obviously is considered draftable. The NBA draft is just two rounds.

Sixers fans won’t be surprised to hear the scout believes one of three players will be selected first in the NBA draft.

Andrew Wiggins (6-8) and Joel Embiid (7-0) of Kansas and Jabari Parker (6-8) of Duke are at the top of the list, in no particular order.

Parker is considered ready made for NBA. Wiggins’ stock has shot up with his production down the homestretch in the absence of Embiid, who has a fracture in his back. Wiggins has athleticism similar to Michael Jordan.

The Sixers figure to get their hands on one of those players through the draft as they own the second-worst record in the NBA.

The Milwaukee Bucks are the worst of the worst.

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One of the hot topics Friday was the news that former Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun is reportedly interested in the job at Boston College, which opened up when Delco native Steve Donahue was fired a few days ago.

Calhoun, 71, resigned from UConn before the start of the 2012-13 season after he suffered a broken hip during a fall from a bicycle. Huskies coach Kevin Ollie and guard Shabazz Napier are in favor of Calhoun returning to the coaching ranks.

“If he feels like he wants to get back in coaching, then so be it,” Napier said. “If he does, wherever he goes, I’m going to be a fan of that team.”

Calhoun won 873 games at Northeastern and Connecticut. He guided the Huskies to three national championships (1999, 2004, 2011). Ollie took over when Calhoun stepped down.

“It would be great,” Ollie said. “It that’s what he wants to do, more power to him. I’m always going to support Coach. ... I know he has a passion for the game.”

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NOTES: CBS TV analyst and La Salle grad Bill Rafferty hatched the idea to put 4-year-old Philip Steven Martelli on TV. Rafferty is old school. And if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, nothing could be more old school than a grandson imitating his Pop as little Phil does. “It’s probably one of the more enjoyable things I’ve seen,” Rafferty said. “Just to see this kid, I mean, you can see the love and the affection. And all the time he must have spent, all the games he must have watched to do that. The tie hanging down, the arms crossed, the hand on the chin … pretty special.” … ESPN said Mercer’s win over Duke resulted in a loss for 96.6 percent of the network’s Tournament Challenge brackets. And it will get worse as nearly 21 percent of those brackets lost a Final Four team.